Hosive

we’ve been traveling so i thought i would share a few places that we like to eat at not in nyc. again, not necessarily the best or whatever superlative…just places we go to regularly when we are in your town.

i told tiffany that our whole friendship rested on her selections for food in charlottesville. she was able to help me and my friends tix to u2 in the middle of ??? so we took the plunge to visit her and her friends. she took us here….her favorite sandwich place. a plain looking store front with do it yourself menus. our friendship was in jeopardy!

however, this place did have a long line of faithful patrons, a mom and pop setup with the promise of home made goodness and secret menu items. so onward!!!

nearly all of us got the crab sandwich which was a winner! we also got a bowl of the crab soup/chowder to split. another winner.

fresh ingredients especially the most important one…..care. attention. love. the food took a bit of a wait…which is a good thing. no anyone can slap it together here. mom and pop are in the back doing quality control.

even tastier was this non-menu item named after one of their daughters. it was a meaty sandwich with cole slaw and/or other magical condiments. and it was huge!!! tiffany could not finish and we “helped” her with it because we are good friends.

yes. she can still be our friend.

we were so enamored that we were going to get even more food to eat while waiting for doors to open at the venue. however, we were so stuffed that we could not order more and hope to eat it by the time the doors did open. good news/bad news. i am glad that we waited until after the meal before deciding whether to order.

if if if we ever return….this place will be on our itinerary. there are other items we want to try.

we’ve been traveling so i thought i would share a few places that we like to eat at not in nyc. again, not necessarily the best or whatever superlative…just places we go to regularly when we are in your town.

the really nice thing about the u2 tour this time around is that you do not have to line up all day for a good spot. you may not have had to do that in previous tours either but front row was more paramount. for the 360 tour, sight lines were actually better further in the pit so this allowed us to sleep in, get some brunch with good friends, go to church and then casually get into the pit that night.

for brunch, we went to treat…an american brunch place with indian influences and flair. with an outdoor dining room to add to the magic of the weekend.

now….i forget what everything is but it was super tasty and i would come back again! but let’s try it…..green eggs and ham(yes! they have this here), a side of chicken sausages, savory pancakes with leeks, one of the indian egg specialties, mark’s make your own omelet, a pancake, masala french toast….anything else, i’ll need the help of my dining mates to identify!

of course, i remember what i got….the steak benedict for 10.95! take that, ny prices!

we would never have found this place without our chicago cbc’rs! look forward to seeing them during the holidays soon.

we’ve been traveling so i thought i would share a few places that we like to eat at not in nyc. again, not necessarily the best or whatever superlative…just places we go to regularly when we are in your town.

we went early to wait on line at the semi-world famous hot doug’s that features hot dogs….

what???? you say….wait in line? do you ever do anything that does not involve lining up? you ask. and for hot dogs???

the wait aint that bad when you are with good friends. we got there pretty early to avoid the hour(s) long usual wait but moved to the back of the line to avoid the dirty looks that came with our large group of cohorts coming in late. we gave up being #3 in line but the spot we got wasn’t too bad as the line had not grown too much anyway from when we got there. it was worth it to avoid some race wars between the asians and the others.

and we are not talking hot dogs….we are talking hot dogs. look at this menu…..this is for pros.

and this one! this is nuts! crazy and amazing!

here are more menu items…..

let me see if i can get this right….theresa and i tried the ribeye hotdog(amazing!!!! my favorite), the spicy beef hot link with coca cola bbq sauce(another superb dog), a classic chicago dog, the dave kingman(chicken hot dog)- both of these were for fun but still very, very good, saucisson alsacienne(luxurious)and one more i cannot identify. and of course the duck fat fries.

the theresa conclusion….we are coming back next time we are in chicago.

as the magical fall descends, we will finally be able to travel as zoe has hit that critical three month mark. we passed on many a wedding and opportunity to travel in between her birth and this past weekend. up first, we have maryland on our mind.

again, here are spots that are not necessarily the best or whatever superlative…just places we go to regularly when we are in your town. here’s one we go to when the conditions are right….

this is the fancy restaurant at the country club that my in law’s are part of. they signed up because of the access to 2 golf courses on the premises but membership also comes with a certain amount of food credits to use either at the pub or here. since theresa’s parents are so busy, they occasionally have a lot of  credits to burn toward the end of the month and when they do, they send us. usually, we just go to the casual dining area but they must have had an unusual amount as the insisted on us going here. so we obliged them…..

i got the cream of crab soup and a lump crab cake sandwich….premium items…and you know that you can trust baltimorians with the crab….its part of their culture…

since theresa was pregnant with zoe, she skipped the shellfish and went with a somewhat healthier chicken club……wait?? pregnant?? when was this??

here are a few clues…..

…it was a long, long time ago….let’s just say we were not seated outside for this meal.

btw, the food was very, very tasty. send us whenever you need to, mom and dad!

i got to go to a quick conference before zoe was born so i wanted to post on a place that we like to eat at when we are not in nyc. again, not necessarily the best or whatever superlative…just places we go to regularly when we are in your town.

with one meal in chicago, we almost always go here. its in an italian district of chicago and is possibly my most favorite italian place in the country,  even with all the choices in nyc. however, i must admit that i have been to mostly touristy places back home. the better italian places are also likely the more expensive places in manhattan which we have not started discovering yet. but that’s what makes francesca’s a favorite…really good food at regular yuppie prices(as opposed to baller prices).

and my hosts love it too. this is why cassie tolerates my presence…i insist on what is definitely her favorite italian eatery. she’s the president of the fan club…i’m the vice president. though theresa might be running for both titles when she returns to chicago.

i think this is what cassie got…a yummy chicken with fettucine? likely with garlic, garlic, garlie. cassie, tell me what this was….

i got this amazing chicken with capers, olives and spicy tomato sauce. it has all the things I love.

hoping to make a stop with theresa in the fall when our irish friends make their first stop.

occasionally we travel outside of manhattan so i thought that i would share a few places that we like to eat at when we are not in nyc. again, not necessarily the best or whatever superlative…just places we go to regularly when we are in your town.

we love ourselves some chick fila. and of course what we love more is free chick fila! so we dressed our daughter up in a godmother made cow costume(make sure to vote for her zoe at http://www.showusthecow.com/photos.php?view=detail&id=557)and headed to nj for some nuggets, waffle fries, chicken salads, chicken salad sandwiches, half lemonade/half ice teas and good ol’ standard of the simple chicken sandwich. the draws are real chicken meat that is always quality and a hint of southern fried goodness.

there is a chick fila in nyc on the nyu campus but they are closed during the summer.

strangely, our pics have no recording of the actual food. i swear we ate all that…perhaps too soon. but i admit that this was an elaborate device to post more zoe cow pics.

here’s godmother alpha with the evidence of zoe’s prize: the 12 piece nugget meal with fries and drink. a lot of food for a little girl! she wound up not eating any! and we had to finish it off for her….its a hard knock life.

and a closeup of the same…..

finally evidence that she was not asleep the whole time! she does sleep well during trips and likes movement especially in cars. i wonder if she’ll have any suppressed memories of this?

its thanksgiving season so we were traveling down to baltimore to visit theresa’s family and we were planning out our favorite must have meals when we are in md. again, not necessarily the best or whatever superlative…just places we go to regularly when we are in your town.

we didn’t get to go this time around but when we have time for two meals in montgomery county, the second one is almost always at moby dick’s, a local kebob chain in the dc area that sells superior tasting beef, chicken, lamb, steak and even fish kebobs.

we had one of these in the local fake town we used to live in in maryland. new urbanism is still a relatively new concept in suburban living where communities are built with a town center so that restaurants, groceries, post office, movies and other businesses are within walk distance. not that revolutionary to city folks but a totally different experience for those used to cul de sacs and sidewalks that lead to…..nowhere?

but the town centers they have built tend to look like movie sets hence the fake town vibe. but for me, a fake town is better than no town. and within a 5 minute walk from our townhome was moby dick’s which we frequented often. most md fake towns now have their own moby’s. peer pressure? jealousy?

theresa loves the rice there and could just order that but thinks the meat is a nice accompaniment.  she even orders the burnt rice which is free by request as an appetizer. she would recommend the ground beef kebob….comes with two turd-y looking strands…but don’t let the looks fool you….its super yummy.

i prefer that chicken and beef combo because i like having a bit of variety.

frank got the steak kebob….which only comes with one but one very hearty row of meat. steph got a kebob sandwich.

i think we still compare kebobs we have elsewhere to our local favorite. if we ever were to move back to maryland, we would look to live in our fake town and would enjoy walking frequently to this local joint.

its thanksgiving so we’ll be traveling down to baltimore to visit theresa’s family and we were planning out our favorite must have meals when we are in md. again, not necessarily the best or whatever superlative…just places we go to regularly when we are in your town.

the one must have maryland meal is usually had here…the nibbler….our favorite peruvian joint.  it is almost always the first place we go when we are in montgomery county.

the restaurant creates the vibe of eating outdoors in a small town complete with planes landing on a nearby airstrip.

we also bring everyone we know to share in the goodies. the restaurant is very close to the church i used to work at so this was the dining option of choice for lunch and post church meals.

we know the owners, the ochs….a german husband and his filipino wife who found their true calling recreating different peruvian dishes after cooking in hotel restaurants for many years. we even invited them to our wedding 5 plus years ago.

our money dish is the ropa vieja. this version is twice cooked meat….slow roasted beef that is then fried to get a crispy texture. sometimes both theresa and i get this exact same dish rather than get two different ones to share. another popular dish is the lomo saltado …flavorful salty beef with fries over rice. i usually pass on this since it has cilantro….besides, if i want beef, i’m getting the ropa! not pictured is the aji chicken dish that we sometimes get but will likely not get as much since we found a good sub for it up here in the city. but the ropa here is still magic.

and we love the sauces…there’s a mild sauce that is just enough punch for me and a spicy sauce that is great for theresa but fire for the rest of us. theresa wound up picking up some of the latter last time we were in town.

we will defintely be making a stop here this week sometime!

we will get back to nyc places very soon…….

we’ve been traveling so i thought i would share a few places that we like to eat at not in nyc. again, not necessarily the best or whatever superlative…just places we go to regularly when we are in your town.

this is one of our favorite places in sf…but its completely changed!

this is on the west coast….literally! twice! it is on the west coast of san francisco….as far west as you can go in the city. just south of robin william’s home…so the rumor goes.

my friend wilbur has a family home on geary, a main artery in sf…we would visit quite often in the late 90′s before my friends and i were married…..and when we took the bus east, we would easily get into the heart of downtown. but when we went west, we would hit the coast and just a little bit south was this gem of a brunch place.  it used be more rustic but now looks all shiny. i bet my boy q is thinking: what the heck is this???

the food is good but the main attraction for us was being able to eat with views of the water and the horizon. a little gray on this day but that’s sf….the weather vacillates and varies throughout the day. there are still two places to eat at the cliffhouse….a swankier joint with a more expensive menu and the regular people place with regular prices. they seemed to have expanded both dining areas so there is not that mad morning dash nor the long lines if you slept in. we lucked out and got a table by the water.

for brunch, theresa went with this shrimp salad open faced sandwich. we usually do seafood here though eggs and pankcakes and the usual brunch fare are also excellent. but west coast means more seafood for us. i think another selling point was the guac for theresa….she’s a sucker for fresh and fresher guac.

i went with the fish sandwhich….which i am a sucker for….i think this is mahi or was this halibut? i forget. what does this look like?

to me, it just looks hearty and delicious.

just ask our hosts, ricky and angela! they got some yummy eggs and breakfast foods.

they live in sf but had yet to come here so when we found out how close they were to the restaurant, we insisted on having them join us. i think they’ll be back….we love introducing friends to places in their current home town……sometimes, in towners don’t have the time or luxury of finding these places. but as tourists, often we are hunting them down!

we’ve been traveling so i thought i would share a few places that we like to eat at not in nyc. again, not necessarily the best or whatever superlative…just places we go to regularly when we are in your town.

i do realize that this is a bit of a tourist trap, and a little gimmicky but we love garlic…..we love the smell of garlic and we love smelling like garlic! yay! garlic!

this is a garlic restaurant. they joke that they flavor their garlic with food as opposed to the other way around. they even have garlic ice cream which we tried once but probably never again. garlic desserts are only eh.

we always start with the bagna calda….cloves and cloves of garlic stewing in its own juices to go with bread. its pretty easy to fill up on bread at this stage if you don’t remember that more food is on the way.

i started with the filet mignon chili while caleb had the squishy rubber toy. in the foreground, garlic bread to go with the bagna calda

dan and jess treated us to this feast…..seafood grill with you know what sauce…..the 40 clove chicken…..sea bass with you know what rissotto….and of course, sides of garlic. the chicken is one of their featured specialties and takes 30-40 minutes to prepare. i’ve also had their pork chop which is also very good.

stuffed and smelling like garlic…..a strangely guilty pleasure. not as good as duartes but worth a visit every few years. we will be back!